LOS ANGELES (KTLA) – A California woman who was previously arrested on suspicion of kidnapping a child from a Target store was arrested again Tuesday on similar charges.
The woman was identified as Yara Vanessa Pineda, 27, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Officers responded to Seoul International Park in Koreatown at around 5:14 p.m., after witnesses said Pineda had approached several children at the park playground and picked them up, but let them go after being confronted by their parents.
The woman was reportedly seen fighting with the parents when they told her to leave.
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Photo of Yara Vanessa Pineda, 27, wanted in connection with an alleged attempted kidnapping on Feb. 25, 2024, in L.A. (LAPD) -
Seoul International Park located on the 3200 block of San Marino Street in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. (KTLA) -
A witness captured the moment Yara Vanessa Pineda was arrested for attempted kidnapping at Seoul International Park on May 28, 2024. -
Seoul International Park located on the 3200 block of San Marino Street in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. (KTLA) -
LAPD Community Alert notification on Feb. 25, 2024. (LAPD)
Witnesses recalled the frightening scene as the woman continued running around the park.
“There was a crazy lady running around and she was picking up little kids and the kids were running from her,” recalled a young boy named Anwar. “They got scared. She was catching them and running away with them. She asked me for candy and I said, ‘No!’ and I ran away.”
Anwar said the woman picked up his sister and later pushed her to the ground.
A parent, Alberto Lopez, recalls intervening when the woman tried to grab his young son.
“She looked homeless,” Lopez said. “I said, ‘Don’t touch my boy,’ and she tried but I said, ‘Don’t touch him!’”
“I just saw the lady and she creeped from the back and grabbed [my son] and I just screamed and she let him go,” another parent recalled. “I almost had a heart attack. I was scared. I just screamed.”
Parents called the police and kept an eye on her while awaiting their arrival. Pineda fled the area before officers could arrive. An LAPD airship spotted the woman running from the park toward Normandie Avenue.
Officers confronted her and a taser was eventually used to subdue her and take her into custody. When police arrived, Pineda was seen throwing her bags at them and spitting at them, witnesses said.
Pineda was taken into custody on kidnapping charges.
Pineda was previously arrested on Feb. 25 for allegedly trying to kidnap a 4-year-old boy from a Target store in Westlake.
During that incident, Pineda allegedly grabbed the boy from behind and carried him out of the store before putting the child down after being confronted by his parents.
The boy’s family told police they did not know the woman. She was released from jail about a week before the latest park incident, according to public records.
Vivian Chow
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